Zion is the Mountain of our Covenant:
both now and in the time to come. Hebrews 2:5-18 exalts the means by which Christ did save in that He, 1) being made into a human being (Heb. 2:9, 16), defeated the power of death that held man in bondage (Heb. 2:14-15), 2) that He might afterward pass into the heavens (Heb. 4:14) as a “forerunner,” that through His life He may bring “many sons to glory” (Heb. 6:20, 2:10). As Christ passed into the heavens by a death-defeating resurrection, we too partake of this “heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1), “taste” and partake of “the heavenly gift” (Heb. 6:4), being made a partaker of Christ (Heb. 3:14), and thus, we have a basis of lawful and spiritual justification after the substance of “heavenly things” which the shadows of the OT declared (Heb. 8:5), being saved by a better sacrifice and blood that purifies
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the “heavenly things” with an incorruptible blood (Heb. 9:23-24, 1 Peter 1:18-19), and as partakers of this lawful and spiritual glorification, we are made to desire and seek what is prepared for us, namely a country and city that is “heavenly” (Heb. 11:16, 13:14), by a Covenant of One that came from heaven, ascended back into heaven, and “speaketh from heaven” (Heb. 12:25)! We therefore are “come unto Zion, and unto a city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24).
Herein is the climactic scene of the Greater Mediator, Prophet, and Testator than Moses, who ascended a greater and holier mountain than Sinai, Who has passed from here to there for us (as He stands, even so, we stand in Him, spiritually and lawfully), and thus we ought to hold fast and keep with patience the Covenant delivered by Him (Heb. 2:1, 4:16, 6:11-12, 10:35-36) that we might follow the “Finisher” (Heb. 12:2), that it might be said of us that we are with Him where He is (John 17:24, 14:3). This will happen through a persevering faith which actualizes a translation (Heb. 11:5), that is, “when Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4), because we lived and abode in the heavenly things (Col. 3:1-2, Php. 3:20, 4:8, Eph. 1:3, 2:6, 4:22-24, 1 Peter 2:11, Jas. 3:17), which is, a mortifying and death of the earthly things (Col. 3:5, Rom. 8:13, Gal. 5:24, Php. 3:19, Jas. 3:15). This Kingdom we have been born into (John 1:11-12), or translated into (Col. 1:13), is spiritually within us (Lk. 17:21). By its dominion, we have come to possess all things as one that inherits all that Christ owns (1 Cor. 3:22-23), because we relate to the Father in His life (Rom. 6:8-10); even now, we sit with/in Him (Eph. 2:6) on the Davidic Throne (Acts 2:29-36), thus we are presently in Zion and have ascended the holy hill in Christ (partially/spiritually/lawfully), and yet we await the consummating descent of the Kingdom of God to be upon the earth. We have been resurrected (Rom. 6:4), regenerated (Tit. 3:5), overcome death (Eph. 2:5), and inherited the Kingdom (Lk. 17:21), but we await a final consummating resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42-50), regeneration (Rom. 8:18-21, Php. 3:12-14), defeat of death (1 Cor. 15:54-57), and inheritance of the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
Therefore verily, we are presently saved, and we are in a present progressive salvation where we are being saved continually. Those who are saved have met with God at Zion, for we are those who have received the Covenant of God, and yet it is not consummated, and we have an entire Promised Land to inherit which we only partially access now. We are as the Israelites at Sinai who had a need to follow God into the Promised Land. We too must “go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. 13:13-14). The Prophet of this Kingdom (Who we are forewarned about by God in Deut. 18:19, “that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My Name, I will require it of Him”), is He that the apostles (Peter, James, and John) saw glorified on the holy mount, as it was written – they “were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the EXCELLENT GLORY, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:16-19). “Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,” God says, for those who hear not God’s “beloved Son” will undergo the warning of Deut. 18:19! Herein the Father did exalt Christ above the prophecy of old, and Christ was sanctified by a more sure word of prophecy, even above the renowned and famed prophets Moses and Elijah, for Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and spoke with Him! Above Moses! Above Elijah! While they stood beside the Lord Jesus in glory, it was then that – “Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and BEHOLD a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; HEAR YE HIM” (Matt. 17:1-7)! HEAR HIM, Jesus Christ, above Moses and above Elijah! “He that cometh from above is ABOVE ALL: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is ABOVE ALL” (John 3:31).
With this voice from heaven, God did announce Christ as the Prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15), the Testator (Heb. 9:16-17) of the New Covenant. Not only there on the Mountain, but again another time. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost did show forth Their glory, simultaneously, when – “lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16-17)! Never before was the Three Persons of God anointing, extolling, and glorifying such a Man! – for He was the Lord Who was given to us, “and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever!” – but will we recognize this incomparable inauguration and tremble now at the words “HEAR YE HIM” (Matt 17:5)?!
God inaugurated Moses’ ministry as prophet, intercessor, and mediator by a voice from a Consuming Fire which spake on earth. Greater than this is the burden of Hebrews 12:25-29: “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven.” His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom that cannot be shaken or moved. All of Christ’s enemies will be placed under His feet, even death itself! A greater Kingdom, Covenant, Prophet, voice, Mountain, and inauguration – A greater shaking and fear to come wherein the earth and the heavens cannot bear the power, “Wherefore receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a Consuming Fire” (Heb. 12:26-29)! A greater fear should be bound with a greater and holier Mount, Covenant, and Testator, if He is now refused or disobeyed, but will we come to understand that nothing else is acceptable, but “reverence and godly fear,” wrought in the heart by grace, making us to attend to the words of the Covenant with a greater fear than what God sought to be maintained in the Israelite’s heart – “For our God is a Consuming Fire” TODAY and NOW (Heb. 12:29)?!
When God was angry in the Old Covenant, “the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken.” Likewise in the end of days, the word will be fulfilled when – “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21:26). But will we, at present, fear God in such a manner, knowing that our God is a Consuming Fire with One Mediator, and every word on the pages of our New Testament should be trembled at as if it were presented by the voice of God’s awesome and terrible FIRE which raged upon Mount Sinai? When will we attend to the New Testament with this remembrance, receiving it in this awful recollection, and realize evermore…it is not a man, nor was it Moses that spake in the old time, but it was the words of God – the Consuming Fire – Who will surely consume us if we disobey?! If hearts fail men at the end of time, should not our hearts fail us for fear if we disobey the words of this Book, for we have “tasted the powers of the world to come” and have beheld the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) already! We must fear that we may ever be kept in faith, having a continual recognition to the severity of unbelief, and able to repeat the solemn words – “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). Remember, God is with us now! There is a greater presence in our midst than the apostle Paul. “Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, [PAUL SAID] but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For IT IS GOD which worketh IN YOU both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Php. 2:12-13).
The Lord said to Moses that His descent upon Sinai was for the purpose that: “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever” (Ex. 19:9). At the fearful sight wherein Israel beheld God, the Consuming Fire, Moses said, “I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the Mount” (Deut. 5:5). The people heard the voice and saw the fire, and said, “Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not” (Deut. 18:16)! At these words the Lord said – “THEY HAVE WELL SPOKEN THAT WHICH THEY HAVE SPOKEN” (Deut. 18:17)!
Indeed they would have died; they could not bear to hear the voice of God, and they needed an intercessor and prophet. At the saying of these words from the people, God points to a parallel intercession at hand for Christ. Christ was sent BECAUSE what the people said was true, and well spoken, thus Moses prophesied – “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not” (Deut. 18:16)! The voice that spoke at Sinai did shake the earth; it came with such power that those who heard it could not endure it – the people knew THEY WOULD DIE. The voice of our Covenant at our Mountain, Mount Zion, is spoken from heaven, and we who are “the Church of the firstborn” do behold the glory of God in heaven by a revelation in the Spirit of God, sent from heaven. We do partake of the realities of this Kingdom, have ascended Mount Zion, and experienced the powers that will shake the heavens! For this reason it was written that we have “tasted…the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:4-5). When the powers of the world to come were first revealed to us, behold, we were saved! We trembled in fear, turned from sin, and were saved! But do we have this deathly fear to obey, today? Do you have such a perception of the voice of God now, by faith through spiritual illumination?
"The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel" (Psalm 68:8). "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth" (Psalm 97:5) – what about YOU? Has God made known His Name to your inner man, has He revealed His glory to your mind, even as He will make it known to His “adversaries, that the nations may tremble at” His “presence?” As it is written, "Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy Presence" (Isaiah 64:1-2)! Many serve and rejoice before the LORD – UNACCEPTABLY! – Because they do not “serve the LORD with FEAR, and rejoice with TREMBLING. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2:11-12). Everyone talks about serving God, and rejoicing, but are we rejoicing with trembling? Are you serving with fear? Do we understand the holiness of the presence of God, the severity of the words of our Covenant, the chronicles of deadly executions upon saved men who thought lightly of the Name of God? “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him” (Psalm 89:7). Men must learn to be like the mountains round about God, and all those who have “so learned Christ” – they are saved (Eph. 4:20)!
Herein is the climactic scene of the Greater Mediator, Prophet, and Testator than Moses, who ascended a greater and holier mountain than Sinai, Who has passed from here to there for us (as He stands, even so, we stand in Him, spiritually and lawfully), and thus we ought to hold fast and keep with patience the Covenant delivered by Him (Heb. 2:1, 4:16, 6:11-12, 10:35-36) that we might follow the “Finisher” (Heb. 12:2), that it might be said of us that we are with Him where He is (John 17:24, 14:3). This will happen through a persevering faith which actualizes a translation (Heb. 11:5), that is, “when Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4), because we lived and abode in the heavenly things (Col. 3:1-2, Php. 3:20, 4:8, Eph. 1:3, 2:6, 4:22-24, 1 Peter 2:11, Jas. 3:17), which is, a mortifying and death of the earthly things (Col. 3:5, Rom. 8:13, Gal. 5:24, Php. 3:19, Jas. 3:15). This Kingdom we have been born into (John 1:11-12), or translated into (Col. 1:13), is spiritually within us (Lk. 17:21). By its dominion, we have come to possess all things as one that inherits all that Christ owns (1 Cor. 3:22-23), because we relate to the Father in His life (Rom. 6:8-10); even now, we sit with/in Him (Eph. 2:6) on the Davidic Throne (Acts 2:29-36), thus we are presently in Zion and have ascended the holy hill in Christ (partially/spiritually/lawfully), and yet we await the consummating descent of the Kingdom of God to be upon the earth. We have been resurrected (Rom. 6:4), regenerated (Tit. 3:5), overcome death (Eph. 2:5), and inherited the Kingdom (Lk. 17:21), but we await a final consummating resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42-50), regeneration (Rom. 8:18-21, Php. 3:12-14), defeat of death (1 Cor. 15:54-57), and inheritance of the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
Therefore verily, we are presently saved, and we are in a present progressive salvation where we are being saved continually. Those who are saved have met with God at Zion, for we are those who have received the Covenant of God, and yet it is not consummated, and we have an entire Promised Land to inherit which we only partially access now. We are as the Israelites at Sinai who had a need to follow God into the Promised Land. We too must “go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. 13:13-14). The Prophet of this Kingdom (Who we are forewarned about by God in Deut. 18:19, “that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My Name, I will require it of Him”), is He that the apostles (Peter, James, and John) saw glorified on the holy mount, as it was written – they “were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the EXCELLENT GLORY, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:16-19). “Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,” God says, for those who hear not God’s “beloved Son” will undergo the warning of Deut. 18:19! Herein the Father did exalt Christ above the prophecy of old, and Christ was sanctified by a more sure word of prophecy, even above the renowned and famed prophets Moses and Elijah, for Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and spoke with Him! Above Moses! Above Elijah! While they stood beside the Lord Jesus in glory, it was then that – “Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and BEHOLD a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; HEAR YE HIM” (Matt. 17:1-7)! HEAR HIM, Jesus Christ, above Moses and above Elijah! “He that cometh from above is ABOVE ALL: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is ABOVE ALL” (John 3:31).
With this voice from heaven, God did announce Christ as the Prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15), the Testator (Heb. 9:16-17) of the New Covenant. Not only there on the Mountain, but again another time. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost did show forth Their glory, simultaneously, when – “lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16-17)! Never before was the Three Persons of God anointing, extolling, and glorifying such a Man! – for He was the Lord Who was given to us, “and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever!” – but will we recognize this incomparable inauguration and tremble now at the words “HEAR YE HIM” (Matt 17:5)?!
God inaugurated Moses’ ministry as prophet, intercessor, and mediator by a voice from a Consuming Fire which spake on earth. Greater than this is the burden of Hebrews 12:25-29: “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven.” His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom that cannot be shaken or moved. All of Christ’s enemies will be placed under His feet, even death itself! A greater Kingdom, Covenant, Prophet, voice, Mountain, and inauguration – A greater shaking and fear to come wherein the earth and the heavens cannot bear the power, “Wherefore receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a Consuming Fire” (Heb. 12:26-29)! A greater fear should be bound with a greater and holier Mount, Covenant, and Testator, if He is now refused or disobeyed, but will we come to understand that nothing else is acceptable, but “reverence and godly fear,” wrought in the heart by grace, making us to attend to the words of the Covenant with a greater fear than what God sought to be maintained in the Israelite’s heart – “For our God is a Consuming Fire” TODAY and NOW (Heb. 12:29)?!
When God was angry in the Old Covenant, “the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken.” Likewise in the end of days, the word will be fulfilled when – “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk. 21:26). But will we, at present, fear God in such a manner, knowing that our God is a Consuming Fire with One Mediator, and every word on the pages of our New Testament should be trembled at as if it were presented by the voice of God’s awesome and terrible FIRE which raged upon Mount Sinai? When will we attend to the New Testament with this remembrance, receiving it in this awful recollection, and realize evermore…it is not a man, nor was it Moses that spake in the old time, but it was the words of God – the Consuming Fire – Who will surely consume us if we disobey?! If hearts fail men at the end of time, should not our hearts fail us for fear if we disobey the words of this Book, for we have “tasted the powers of the world to come” and have beheld the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) already! We must fear that we may ever be kept in faith, having a continual recognition to the severity of unbelief, and able to repeat the solemn words – “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). Remember, God is with us now! There is a greater presence in our midst than the apostle Paul. “Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, [PAUL SAID] but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For IT IS GOD which worketh IN YOU both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Php. 2:12-13).
The Lord said to Moses that His descent upon Sinai was for the purpose that: “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever” (Ex. 19:9). At the fearful sight wherein Israel beheld God, the Consuming Fire, Moses said, “I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the Mount” (Deut. 5:5). The people heard the voice and saw the fire, and said, “Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not” (Deut. 18:16)! At these words the Lord said – “THEY HAVE WELL SPOKEN THAT WHICH THEY HAVE SPOKEN” (Deut. 18:17)!
Indeed they would have died; they could not bear to hear the voice of God, and they needed an intercessor and prophet. At the saying of these words from the people, God points to a parallel intercession at hand for Christ. Christ was sent BECAUSE what the people said was true, and well spoken, thus Moses prophesied – “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not” (Deut. 18:16)! The voice that spoke at Sinai did shake the earth; it came with such power that those who heard it could not endure it – the people knew THEY WOULD DIE. The voice of our Covenant at our Mountain, Mount Zion, is spoken from heaven, and we who are “the Church of the firstborn” do behold the glory of God in heaven by a revelation in the Spirit of God, sent from heaven. We do partake of the realities of this Kingdom, have ascended Mount Zion, and experienced the powers that will shake the heavens! For this reason it was written that we have “tasted…the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:4-5). When the powers of the world to come were first revealed to us, behold, we were saved! We trembled in fear, turned from sin, and were saved! But do we have this deathly fear to obey, today? Do you have such a perception of the voice of God now, by faith through spiritual illumination?
"The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel" (Psalm 68:8). "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth" (Psalm 97:5) – what about YOU? Has God made known His Name to your inner man, has He revealed His glory to your mind, even as He will make it known to His “adversaries, that the nations may tremble at” His “presence?” As it is written, "Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy Presence" (Isaiah 64:1-2)! Many serve and rejoice before the LORD – UNACCEPTABLY! – Because they do not “serve the LORD with FEAR, and rejoice with TREMBLING. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2:11-12). Everyone talks about serving God, and rejoicing, but are we rejoicing with trembling? Are you serving with fear? Do we understand the holiness of the presence of God, the severity of the words of our Covenant, the chronicles of deadly executions upon saved men who thought lightly of the Name of God? “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him” (Psalm 89:7). Men must learn to be like the mountains round about God, and all those who have “so learned Christ” – they are saved (Eph. 4:20)!
"The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein" (Nahum 1:5).
"Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting" (Habakkuk 3:5-6). "The mountains saw Thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of Thine arrows they went, and at the shining of Thy glittering spear" (Habakkuk 3:10-11). "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places" (Revelation 6:13-14). "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them" (Revelation 20:11). "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth" (Isaiah 2:10-21). |
Surely God hath set apart Christ! The Three Persons of the Trinity did extol and inaugurate Him! And gave Him miracles to undo and turn upside down the Kingdom of Satan on earth! Christ hath perfectly declared the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Therefore, if this is our Covenant’s beginning, and we have such an extolled Covenant Testator, and He does mediate between the Consuming Fire of heaven preceding a worldwide shaking and regeneration, forerunning the final descent of the everlasting Kingdom and glory of God, can we go on walking and talking with Him, without FEAR? Could anything but fear be acceptable while we are standing upon the holier Mount of Zion, even while the spiritual visions of His glory, fear, and power burst upon our sides? Or, do you no longer have eyes to see and ears to hear? After these witnesses, can we be so ill that we will not believe in Christ forever? God speaketh unto and through Christ, as with Moses. God did establish Moses’ prophetic office, saying that Israel will “hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever” (Ex. 19:9). How much more should we believe Christ forever, and hear what God hath spoken to Him, through Him, unto us by the Spirit of the “heavenly Dove”?!?
If God is with you, it is because He has broken you, and it was HIS VOICE that has broken you! As it is written, “For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, Whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). Are you still broken? It is written, “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32), but is God looking upon you!? He says, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH AT MY WORD” (Isaiah 66:2)! Have you ever trembled at His awesome, terrifying, majestic Presence? Do you still tremble today in an acceptable FEAR? Can you humbly confess to God, “My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy Judgments” (Psalm 119:120). The writer of Hebrews commands you in Hebrews 12:28-29, that you must tremble more than Moses and Israel, for now, behold, all regenerate Christians do experience, see, and taste the thunderous and terrifying words, warnings, curses, and irrevocable Judgments of God, for to them they are spiritually revealed! Rightly did the psalmist write, “I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Thy righteous judgments. I will keep Thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly” (Psalm 119:7-8)! Will you learn His “righteous judgments,” and so, will you be able to praise Him acceptably, love Him rightly, kiss Him wholly, and therefore – “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11)? Partake of the revelations “in His Temple” (Psalm 29), and be thou instructed, all ye His saints…
If God is with you, it is because He has broken you, and it was HIS VOICE that has broken you! As it is written, “For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, Whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). Are you still broken? It is written, “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32), but is God looking upon you!? He says, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH AT MY WORD” (Isaiah 66:2)! Have you ever trembled at His awesome, terrifying, majestic Presence? Do you still tremble today in an acceptable FEAR? Can you humbly confess to God, “My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy Judgments” (Psalm 119:120). The writer of Hebrews commands you in Hebrews 12:28-29, that you must tremble more than Moses and Israel, for now, behold, all regenerate Christians do experience, see, and taste the thunderous and terrifying words, warnings, curses, and irrevocable Judgments of God, for to them they are spiritually revealed! Rightly did the psalmist write, “I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Thy righteous judgments. I will keep Thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly” (Psalm 119:7-8)! Will you learn His “righteous judgments,” and so, will you be able to praise Him acceptably, love Him rightly, kiss Him wholly, and therefore – “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11)? Partake of the revelations “in His Temple” (Psalm 29), and be thou instructed, all ye His saints…
Psalm 29
" A Psalm of David. Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in His temple doth every one speak of His glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.”
" A Psalm of David. Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in His temple doth every one speak of His glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.”
Calvinists and Armenians, have you heard Him speak because you are seeing “Him Who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27)? Look upon your God and abhor yourself, or perhaps you are a stranger to Zion. May God meet you now that you might say – “Now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6)! Even so, Amen.